Episcopal Divinity School

Climate Justice with Karenna Gore

Dean Kelly Brown Douglas speaks with Karenna Gore, Director of Union's Center for Earth Ethics. They discuss the moral dimensions of our ecological crisis, how environmental issues are playing out in the presidential primary, and Karenna's recent New York Times op-ed.

The Center for Earth Ethics is an institute at Union Theological Seminary that envisions a world where value is measured according to the sustained well-being of all people and our planet. Learn more at their website www.centerforearthethics.org/

 

A Pilgrimage that Confronts Injustice & Crucifying Realities

Earlier this summer, Episcopal Divinity School at Union and The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest made a pilgrimage to Montgomery, Alabama to visit the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

Established by the Equal Justice Initiative, these sites are our nation’s first memorials dedicated to the legacy of enslaved Black people, those terrorized by lynching and Jim Crow segregation, and the ongoing threat of police violence and mass incarceration to African American men and women.

During the Pilgrimage, Kelly sat down with Rev. Anne Marie Witchge from the Church of Heavenly Rest, as well as Union students Carl Adair, Grace Aheron, and Galvin Mathis to discuss their experience on the pilgrimage.

Seeking Justice for Eric Garner

On this the fifth anniversary of the murder of Eric Garner, Dean Kelly Brown Douglas speaks with the Rev. Fred Davie, Executive VP of Union and the chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) for the New York City Police Department. They discuss the Department of Justice’s decision to not pursue charges against the NYPD officer who placed Eric Garner in a chokehold, the next steps for the CCRB in pursuing justice, and the role of faith communities today.

Margins Speak with Rev. Dr. Jione Havea

In today’s episode, we will continue our series “Margins Speak” in which the Rev. Dr. Joshua Samuel speaks with theologians and activists from the Global South about how they are experiencing and responding to climate change and environmental destruction.

In this conversation, Rev. Samuel interviews the Rev. Dr. Jione Havea, who is a native Methodist Pastor from Tonga who serves as the research fellow at Trinity Theological College, Auckland, and with the Public and Contextual Theology research center at the Charles Sturt University, Australia.

Dr. Havea has recently edited two important works, Religion and Power and Scripture and Resistance, both available through Lexington/Fortress Press.

We reference two articles in the podcast:

 

Courageous and Just: The Rev. Mihee Kim-Kort

In a new interview series, Courageous and Just, The Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of EDS at Union and Trinity Wall Street’s Theologian in Residence, interviews bold voices of our time to explore the question, “What does a just society look like?” and to compel us to act on our moral imagination. 

The videos are available on the Trinity Wall Street website and the interviews will be posted in your EDS at Union Now podcast feed.

In our third episode, Dean Kelly Brown Douglas interviews The Rev. Mihee Kim-Kort is a Presbyterian minister and author of the recent book Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith.

Dean Douglas and Rev. Kim-Kort discuss the word and concept of queerness, which has not been traditionally used in the church. Kim-Kort believes Christians should be gesturing toward queer horizons, beyond the lines and structures society has drawn, not only to work toward a more just and equitable world, but also to become our most complete, restored selves. 

 

Courageous and Just: Rev. Canon Broderick Greer

In a new interview series, Courageous and Just, The Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of EDS at Union and Trinity Wall Street’s Theologian in Residence, interviews bold voices of our time to explore the question, “What does a just society look like?” and to compel us to act on our moral imagination. 

The videos are available on the Trinity Wall Street website and the interviews will be posted in your EDS at Union Now podcast feed.

n our second episode, Dean Kelly Brown Douglas interviews The Rev. Canon Broderick Greer, from the St. John's Cathedral in Denver, Colorado.

Dean Douglas and Rev. Greer tackle tough faith questions around of what it means for the church to stand in solidarity with victims of police violence in the streets of Ferguson, with those mourning the victims of a mass shooting targeting Jews inside the Tree of Life Synagogue, as well as with all “crucified classes.”

Courageous and Just: Austin Channing Brown

In a new interview series, Courageous and Just, The Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of EDS at Union and Trinity Wall Street’s Theologian in Residence, interviews bold voices of our time to explore the question, “What does a just society look like?” and to compel us to act on our moral imagination. 

The videos are available on the Trinity Wall Street website and the interviews will be posted in your EDS at Union Now podcast feed.

Kelly's first interview is with Austin Channing Brown, author of “I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness.”

Austin Channing Brown shares insights from her book, and her life, about what it means to embrace blackness, reimagine self-identity outside of the framework of white supremacy, and how she is preparing her one-year-old son to both “love and resist.”

 

Margins Speak with Rev. Dr. Kuzipa Nalwamba

 

We are launching a podcast series titled, Margins Speak.

Over the next few months, The Rev. Dr. Joshua Samuel, Visiting Lecturer for Theology, Global Christianity, and Mission will explore various ecological issues faced by people in the Global South.

Covering topics such as colonialism, capitalism, and oppressive structures such as racism, patriarchy, homophobia, we will hear how theologians and thought leaders from around the globe are responding theologically to these environmental crises and working with communities to resist the forces that cause environmental destruction.

In this first episode of Margins Speaks, Joshua Samuel interviews Rev. Dr. Kuzipa Nalwamba, who is an ordained minister of the United Church of Zambia, and currently serves as a Project Consultant in Strategic Planning at the Council for World Mission in Pretoria, South Africa.

Bringing Communities Together Through Music

Last month, Dr. Sandra T. Montes joined EDS at Union as an Artist in Residence, sharing her talents for leading worship, song, and bi-lingual liturgy with our community. In today's episode, Dean Douglas interviews Dr. Montes to learn more about her experience using music to bring congregations and communities together. 

About Sandra Montes: Sandra is the Spanish Language Resource Consultant at ECF. She was born in Perú, grew up in Guatemala and settled in Texas as soon as she could.

Her passions are God, family (especially her son), music, education, and writing and she has been hoping and praying for this position for years. 

Sandra has been developing original bilingual resources for her church, school, and others for years. Sandra has been volunteering and working in the Episcopal Church since she was welcomed in 1986. She serves as musician, translator, speaker, consultant, and writer. She earned her doctorate in education in 2016 and is a full-time freelance consultant and musician. 

Sandra T. Montes nació en Perú, se crió en Guatemala y se instaló en Tejas lo antes que le fue posible. Sus pasiones son Dios, familia (especialmente su hijo), música, educación y escribir, y ha estado esperando y orando por este puesto por años. Sandra ha estado elaborando recursos bilingües originales para su iglesia, escuela y otros por años. Sandra ha sido voluntaria y trabajado en la Iglesia Episcopal desde que le dieron la bienvenida a Ella en 1986. Se desempeña como música, traductora, oradora, asesora y redactora. Obtuvo su doctorado en educación en 2016 y es consultora y música de tiempo completo.

Flint, Faith and Justice with Anna Clark

In this episode of EDS at Union NOW, Dean Kelly Brown Douglas interviews Anna Clark, author of The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy, who joined us on campus for a public event on Wednesday, January 30, 2019.

The Poisoned City was selected as the EDS at Union Community Read for the spring 2019 semester. In her book, Clark methodically lays out how embedded racism, wealth gaps, a shift away from democracy at the local level, as well as the targeted neglect of the ties that bind – literally, our urban infrastructure – have resulted in Flint’s black and brown children being poisoned.